50 Book Challenge for 2011

[tigerrouge]

15: Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney E Martin

This was a readable perspective on the issue of eating disorders and female identity, but the young author only explored it as far as the limits of her own world, which was resolutely American, and centred on college experience and the early years of entering into the job market. In terms of theories, there wasn't anything new for me, but I would certainly describe it as an approachable book.

 

[L.A.Woman85]

Onto my 4th, while still trying to finish The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, really struggling to finish it, because I keep buying new books!


1. Life - Keith Richards
2. Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis
3. The Collector - John Fowles
4. The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
5. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

[ChrissyM]

1: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
2: Just Kids by Patti Smith
3: The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
4: Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
5: The Monster of Florence: A True Story by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi
6: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
7: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Finished Cat's Cradle last night...
I won't be posting a full review because honestly, I think my state of mind and concentration weren't all there while i was reading it during fashion week etc
the whole memory of the book is a bit exhausted and feverish in my head
But, I will say that I did enjoy it (I think ) and I think I would recommend it...
will definitely read more of Vonnegut's work in the future...

I started Little Bee this morning and am about 40ish pages in already...
i'll probably get off the computer and get some more reading done soon...
i feel like i need to play catch up a little bit and get this one done quickly! i know i've got some big, thick books to tackle this year...

 

[rox_yr_sox]

1. Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath
2. Cupid and the King: Five Royal Paramours by Princess Michael of Kent
3. Haiku: Poetry Ancient and Modern: An Anthology by Jackie Hardy [Ed]
4. Art of the Soviets: Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in a One-Party State, 1917-1992 by Bown & Taylor [Eds]
5. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
6. Architecture in the Age of Stalin: Culture Two by Vladimir Paperny
7. The Edifice Complex: how the rich and powerful shape the world by Deyan Sudjic
8. God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
9. Plans, pragmatism and People: The legacy of Soviet planning for today's cities by R. Antony French
10. Quicksilver (Vol.1 in the Baroque Cycle) by Neal Stephenson
11. The Confusion (Vol.2 in the Baroque Cycle) by Neal Stephenson
12. The System of the World (Vol.3 in the Baroque Cycle) by Neal Stephenson
13. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan by Rem Koolhaas
14. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
15. Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England by Alison Weir
16. Tete-a-Tete: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre by Hazel Rowley
17. Pandora by Anne Rice

I finished Tete-a-Tete: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre last Friday. It was meticulously researched and very detailed, but I came away from it thinking Sartre was a total sh!t. I really liked Simone though, and part of me thinks she would have been better off (and also more respected in her own right, even though she fully deserves praise for her work, as opposed to an often cited footnote to Sartre) apart from Sartre. I don't think this book would interest anyone unless they were already interested in Sartre or Beauvoir though.

I was looking for a trashy, easy read this past weekend, so I read Anne Rice's Pandora. It did get a tick for satisfying my love for historical fiction, as the book is mainly set in Antioch, during the Roman Empire. Apart from that, it's Anne Rice as usual: a mix of lust, blood, religion, beautiful vampires etc. Tomorrow I start Joseph de Maistre's The Executioner which I bought after reading its blurb:

Since their first publication in 1821, de Maistre's dark writings have fascinated and appalled critics, with their relentless hatred of the Enlightenment and view of humans as murderous beasts who can only be controlled by the threat of overwhelming punishment. Terrifying and bizarre,The Executioner is a meditation on human evil like no other.

penguin books

 

[Annu]

6. Solar by Ian McEwan
This was actually pretty good! I mean somehow I always mix him with Iain M. Banks and it is let down because I don't usually like McEwan's writing style, too little dialogue and too much in side of head talking. But this time it worked very well, I guess main reason was whole solar power & physics stuff. Maybe next time I will pick his book just because of him

I also read couple boring Finnish short story collection, damn how hard is write good books..

 

[Belowen]

Finished my eighth book, now onto the ninth...

01: American Subversive by David Goodwillie
02: The Collector by John Fowles
03: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
04: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
05: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
06: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
07: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
08: The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan
09: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My next few books will be classic literature for the University course I'm doing, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up the pace!
​

 

[cloudyshambles]

just finished Never Let Me Go and feel kinda sad I really enjoyed reading it and I was surprised what it was all about as I went along reading it, didn't expect the plot to be like this. Anyway, can't wait to watch the movie now!

 

[wild roses]

Finished my 5th book Short Fiction of Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins Freeman edited by Barbara H. Solomon.

It was really good. It included The Country of Pointed Firs, Orne's novel about Maine seashore life in the late Victorian era. It made me long for the old days so much! I highly recommend it if you love that era!

 

[kate_is_goddess]

1 // Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
2 // Limit by Frank Schätzing
3 // Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
4 // The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5 // Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
6 // Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
7 // The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
8 // The Collector by John Fowles
9 // The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett

 

[Belowen]

Finished my ninth book, now onto the tenth...

01: American Subversive by David Goodwillie
02: The Collector by John Fowles
03: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
04: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
05: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
06: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
07: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
08: The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan
09: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
10: The Odyssey by Homer

​

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Just a little light reading

Finished #7, Esther Hicks' The Law of Attraction.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

Finished The Chemistry of Death in three days straight, I almost couldn't put it down. It was so thrilling and gripping, I am definitely gonna read the other two of the series!
I can recommend it for everyone who likes a good thriller and doesn't mind a few gory forensic details

10 // Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

 

[1karina1]

List so far..

1 > Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century - Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger

2 > Sculpting in Time - Andrey Tarkovsky

3 > One Day - David Nicholls​

4> The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin was my first Margaret Atwood book - and it was not what I expected at all. Her writing is absolutely beautiful and vivid. The book follows the story of two Candian manufacturing heiress sisters from the First World War period to the present day who are dogged by tragedy. I would highly recommend this book and am now keen to read more written by Atwood.

Next book I'm onto is Pale Fire by Nabokov...anyone read this?

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[Ziegfeld Girl]

4> The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin was my first Margaret Atwood book - and it was not what I expected at all. Her writing is absolutely beautiful and vivid. The book follows the story of two Candian manufacturing heiress sisters from the First World War period to the present day who are dogged by tragedy. I would highly recommend this book and am now keen to read more written by Atwood.​

I love Margaret Atwood. She's one of my favourite writers. The Blind Assassin is my favourite of her books that I've read. I also highly recommend The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride.
​

 

[ChrissyM]

i need to get myself reading some margaret atwood...
she's always been in the periphery a bit for me but i've never taken the plunge

i'll hop on over to amazon when i get a chance and add some of her work to my wish list to buy later

1: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
2: Just Kids by Patti Smith
3: The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
4: Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
5: The Monster of Florence: A True Story by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi
6: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
7: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
8: The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy

Finished Little Bee late last night and I'm still processing it... will post a review in the designated thread a little later tonight so i can collect my thoughts..

am about to start the orchard keeper by cormac mccarthy...
i feel like it might depress me but i'm hoping to just tackle it since i was more receptive to his writing style when i read the third book from the border trilogy last month...

​

 

[1karina1]

I love Margaret Atwood. She's one of my favourite writers. The Blind Assassin is my favourite of her books that I've read. I also highly recommend The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride.
​

Thanks for the recommendations - I'll add them to my list for later on

 

[rox_yr_sox]

1. Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath
2. Cupid and the King: Five Royal Paramours by Princess Michael of Kent
3. Haiku: Poetry Ancient and Modern: An Anthology by Jackie Hardy [Ed]
4. Art of the Soviets: Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in a One-Party State, 1917-1992 by Bown & Taylor [Eds]
5. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
6. Architecture in the Age of Stalin: Culture Two by Vladimir Paperny
7. The Edifice Complex: how the rich and powerful shape the world by Deyan Sudjic
8. God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
9. Plans, pragmatism and People: The legacy of Soviet planning for today's cities by R. Antony French
10. Quicksilver (Vol.1 in the Baroque Cycle) by Neal Stephenson
11. The Confusion (Vol.2 in the Baroque Cycle) by Neal Stephenson
12. The System of the World (Vol.3 in the Baroque Cycle) by Neal Stephenson
13. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan by Rem Koolhaas
14. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
15. Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England by Alison Weir
16. Tete-a-Tete: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre by Hazel Rowley
17. Pandora by Anne Rice
18. The Executioner by Joseph de Maistre

Finished my 18th and have just started Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson.

 

[P Louie V]

This school semester is really messing me up with reading my book and participating in this challenge , so frustrating. But i will catch up..hopefully...

 

[Alvedansen]

01. John Steinbeck - The grapes of wrath
02. Richard Matheson - I am legend
03. Joyce Carol Oates - Big mouth & Ugly girl
04. Ken Follett - The pillars of the earth
05. Haruki Murakami - Afterdark
06. Gayle Forman - If I stay
07. J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

i barely have any time to read, but i try to make as much time as possible...and Harry Potter is so much fun and so easy, it's always a joy to re-read

 

[rox_yr_sox]

^ Amen. I love to occasionally re-read the books of my adolescence! J.K. and Tamora Pierce are great, enjoyable, easy re-reads.